VAN GARDEREN REVEALS HIP FRACTURE
He’s been a little way off his best in recent times and now Tejay van Garderen (BMC) has revealed the reason — he’s been competing with a fractured hip.
Van Garderen will go into the Tour de France as sole leader of the BMC squad after Cadel Evans rode the Giro, but the American’s preparation hasn’t been ideal, losing more than two minutes to Froome and Contador on the first mountain stage of the Dauphine.
But van Garderen appears unfazed.
“I was optimistic coming in here but dealing with the injury that I had at Romandie, I had to take a couple of weeks where I was off the gas a bit,” he told Cycling News. “I posted some good training numbers coming in and thought I should be fine but it’s obvious that I need a bit more race rhythm and a bit more building before July.
“Now’s not the time to hit any panic buttons, it’s about staying the course, doing my thing, and staying realistic and optimistic. The best thing to do here is to go as deep as I can because that’s the best thing for me heading into the Tour.”